Albany to Lake Grace

Lake Grace was really only intended as a stop over on our way to Wave Rock, but we have decided to stay two nights to have a rest day as we thought. But this morning we headed off to have a look at the countryside and it turned into a full day adventure. Lake Grace is a small country town named after the Lake Grace Salt Lake, one of the many and the largest salt lake in this region. The township is rather small but is in quite a large shire created around agriculture and community spirit. This area is a major grain growing region for wheat, canola, oats, lupins and other legumes. Another main agricultural industry is the farming of sheep for wool and meat. The community spirit is evident in this small town by the artwork that is scattered around the streets. But today I was on a mission! I had read about the "Tin Horse Highway" and wanted to check it out. I never dreamed there would be so many Tin Horses! They started about 14 kms out of the township of Kulin and it took us around 45mins to drive the distance. Shane was getting sick of stopping the car to let me out to get a shot. But I also noticed he was spotting some before me so I think many he was pretending he was getting sick of them. These funny, bright, quirky community creations were originally started as a campaign to promote the annual Kulin Bush Races held every October. But they have devised a wonderful attraction to get visitors to their township all year round.

 

Salt Lakes intrigue me!

The salt in the lakes has been deposited and built up from rainfall and
wind over thousands of years.
Salt lakes such as Lake Grace act as huge evaporative basins for groundwater.
As the water evaporates the salt concentrates on the
surface to form a stark white, crystalline crust.

 

Here are just a few on the many Tin Horses we saw.

Flying Horses



Elle McFillyson - The Clothes Horse

Oooops! Someone has been bucked off!!

Ben Horse - A Charlton Horston Epic

Fillypoosis

Dragonorse (covered in bottle tops)

Ooops! Someone didn't make the hurdle!!

The Brig Amity

The more I see of Albany the more I realize just how important to sea has been to this small city. Yesterday my camera and I had a day to ourselves. I visited The Brig Amity replica that was built in the mid 1970's to mark the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Albany. When the original Brig Amity sailed into Princess Royal Harbour in 1826 it heralded the beginning of Western Australia's colonial history. Under instructions from the British Government the Amity bought the first European settlers to theses shores to establish a military post. The length of this replica is 23 metres (75' 6") with a width of 6.5 metres (21' 5"). Her height  from keel to top of the mast is 26 metres (85').

The Brig Amity



Cannon beside the Amity

Don't think I would like to climb up there!

 As with many coastal cities the port areas have lots of very old and hopefully restored buildings. Luckily Albany is one such city with an extensive area covered by these treasures.

Another discovery I made was something I had never seen before in my 60 years. Quick Sand - up until yesterday I thought it was something that was just in the movies. Who would have thought it was real or have I had my head in the sand all my life! Pardon the pun!



WT???? Quick Sand!!!

Today was another day with a treat for me. After doing some grocery shopping I took myself off to have a pedicure. Now anyone that knows me know that I love my pedicures, manicures and massages. But they have been pretty light on the past eight months, in fact they have been non existent. So today it was time to sit down and have my feet pampered. It was so nice too!!!

Albany's Whale World

It had been recommended to us to go to Albany's Whale World, so today we headed down there nice and early. I was interested in seeing this complex but thought it was just going to be a "World" geared mainly to children. Boy, was I wrong, yes there is a play ground for the little people but Whale World affected me way more than I thought it was going to. Following is a short excerpt from their brochure.

"Australia's Last Whaling Station

 'Thar she blows' is heard over the engines and suddenly all eyes are on the Southern Ocean's surface. The skippers orders full steam ahead and the Cheynes IV ploughs forward. The target is spotted just 60 metres off the port bow and the skipper hurries down the catwalk towards the gun deck leaving the first mate in control of the whalechaser. The harpoon is ready to fire and as they wait the anticipation thickens the air. As the first of the sperm whales breaks the surface and the skipper fires the harpoon, the last day of commercial whailing in Australia begins. On 21 November 1978, the whalechasers returned to the town jetty for the last time after 26 years of successful operation. Over a century of whaling in Australian waters had come to an end."

I had to copy my post from the brochure because I am still at a loss for words of what I saw, read and felt today. Yes of course I knew of the terrible practice of whaling, but I had never been confronted with photos or heard of exactly how the process was performed. While sitting on the ship watching an old original movie of the process I found myself in tears. Those tears crept up on me several times during the day. All I can say is thank goodness most of the worlds population no longer find the necessity to kill these beautiful creatures.

I'm sorry if I get a bit graphic or offend anyone, but I need to get this off my

chest tonight or I don't think I will sleep very well.

Cheynes IV Whalechaser

The Harpoon was not only a bloody big dart but it also had a explosive end that blew up as it entered the Whale. They say that these were a more humane way of killing the beast, but depending on how skillful the skipper was at direction sometimes the whale would need to be shot several times!!

Flensing Deck - The flensing deck was where the Whales were hauled up and stripped of their blubber with extremely sharp flensing knives. This deck would have been covered in dead whales in various stages of dismemberment. The deck and men working there would have been absolutly covered in blood.

Get a load of these teeth!! This Whale beached itself on one of the beaches in Albany

This squid was taken from a Sperm Whale by a fisheries officer working on the flensing deck

As I looked out at the ships rudder and propellor this rock caught my eye. It looked just like a
Whale floating in the water waiting for its grim fate!

In the BAD old days these tanks would have been filled with Whale oil.

Lazy Day in Albany

Well today has been a really lazy day in Albany. Other than heading down to the local Farmers Market this morning, my day has been filled with lots of nothing but relaxing. So I thought I would share just a few past photos with you. We left home way back on May 2nd, 2013 and as of today we have been on the road just over eight months and driven a total of  23,722 kilometres (14,740 miles). While we were at the wind farm yesterday there was a plaque showing how far it is to various location and we are only 6120 kms (3802 miles) to the South Pole!!!!! What the!! We could have almost driven there and back a couple of times.

This our journey so far

Wow the South Pole is only 6120kms away!!

Jimmy Newells Harbour
There is some controversy about just who this harbour was named after Jimmy Newhill a deserter or James Newell a convict. Either way, it's a beautiful view.
 

Denmark to Albany

We are in Albany for a week, a bit longer than we expected due to hackers getting to my credit card online and spending nearly $2000 on online war games!!! Luckily the bank (Westpac) have cancelled my card and refunded the money to me. So now I just have to wait for my new card to arrive in Albany. Bloody hackers!!! Plus I hate online games!!! 

But it gives us a bit of time to check out Albany and it's surrounds and to also just chill out for a few days. Albany is the oldest permanently settled town in Western Australia and with a population of around 34,000 is the sixth largest city in the state. The caravan park we are staying at, Albany Happy Days C/P is about 8 kilometres out of town, situated on the banks of the King River. It's lovely and quiet and a very pretty location. 

On the banks of the King River

Yesterday was spent doing "have to" stuff such as buying groceries and

getting stuff we needed and wanted for Myrtle.

 

Today we headed out to check out some of the beaches and scenery. Our first stop was a small beach called Cable Beach. It was a little tricky to get to the beach, you had to traverse over huge rocks, then down a fairly steep staircase and then climb over some more huge boulders. The turquoise colour of the water was beautiful and the power of the waves was mesmerising. Next stop was The Gap and Natural Bridge. After walking over some more huge rocks The Gap was below us, with the wild ocean hammering against the rock face. The power of the waves was frightening. A few 100 meters away was the Natural Bridge which was yet another wonderful sight and spectacle Nature put on for us. Now don't get me wrong, each to their own, but did these backpackers not realise just how dangerous it was walking  and sitting so close to the edge. Just looking at them made my legs go to jelly!! There were signs everywhere saying how dangerous it was and that people had been injured and lives lost! After checking out a couple more beaches and lookouts over this spectacular coastline we arrived at the Albany Wind Farm. With 12 wind turbines this facility produces more than half of Albany's electricity. Verve Energy has put in a great walk with three lookouts so you can really get a good look at the turbines and the rugged coast they are located on. I have seen and visited quite a few wind farm locations but this is the first one I have been able to stand at the base of one of the turbines.

It is amazing standing of the base of this huge 65 metre tower listening to the

whoosh, whoosh as the 35 metre long blades cut through the air.  

 

Lots of stairs down to Cable Beach

Looking out over Prince Royal Harbour

The waves were mesmerising !!

The Gap - the waves were enormous!!

Natural Bridge - notice the tiny people walking over the top - no thanks!!

You are kidding!!!

Miserable Beach - not sure how it got it's name, but it was really pretty

Albany Wind Farm

It was pretty awesome standing at the base of one of these giants!!

Now it is evening and as I sit here by a fire looking up at the stars al I can say is

I Love my Life!!!

Sight Seeing and an Interruption

Today was another day of trying to catch a fish. This time in the ocean, but the result was the same. Us - nil, Fish - 2. But at least the day wasn't a total loss, we checked out some of the beautiful beaches in the area and also some of Natures spectacular creations. One such creation was called Elephant Rocks. As I walked along the gravel path while following the signs to Elephant Rocks, I could see some fairly large - actually huge rocks - along the coastline. I then came to a fairly steep set of steps down to the sand. I wasn't sure where it went from there as the rocks seemed to block the path. Once I reached the bottom I could see the small gap between two enormous rocks. I walked through as the waves lapped at my feet. As I got to the other side of the gap I was confronted with an absolute amazing sight. The whitest of white sand, the bluest of blue ocean and a collection of enormous rocks that could only be explained as being spiritual!!! As I stood there soaking up the beauty I heard a giggle behind me. As I turned to see what it was I quickly realized I had interrupted a couple in an intimate moment. Yep - that's right they were doin it!!! The guy was quickly trying to put his pants on as I turned and all he could do was say Hi to me. It was hilarious!!

Peaceful Bay wasn't to paeceful today!!

STOP!!!!!!

No fish at Madfish Bay today!!



The entrance to Elephant Rocks

The beauty of Elephants Rocks was amazing.